Sounds of the Season

We find ourselves in a new mode now: post-holiday, pre-Carnival. We have had a great, restful, fruitful (in terms of my academic effort) holiday break and now look forward to the next great event, Winter Carnival. We were fortunate to only get a couple of bad snow days in the two weeks, and we had plenty of time to clean up the white stuff.

We also saw a great GLI, with Tech losing a heartbreaker in the final game to Michigan, 1-0 in double overtime. They swept Mercyhurst this last weekend.

The holidays at our house were filled with family as both our students returned home: one from Baltimore, one from Houghton. We also got to see some old friends and enjoyed the sounds of the season. In my case those sounds included a couple of new CDs (by old guys): John Fogarty and the Eagles, and it got me thinking about the acts I’ve seen over the years, including those at Tech.

I remembered seeing Deodato in the old Sherman Gym, Arlo Guthrie, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes in a guitar battle with Mike Pinera of Cactus. I remembered missing Muddy Waters, who I heard jammed after the concert with students (any truth to that rumor?). How about Bruce Springsteen trying to come up here but canceling at the last minute?

I know we’ve had other big names over the years: The Guess Who, Grass Roots, Styx, Maynard Ferguson, Branford Marsalis. I know I am missing some, and I’d love to hear your memories of concerts over the years. Who’d you see, what did you think, and whom did you bring? One of my concert "dates" is still with me today!

So, let me hear your Tech concert stories, and we'll share them here.

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Snowfall Totals from KRC

Snowfall to date: 72"
Depth on ground: 15.5"

Snowfall total last week: 11"
Depth on ground last week: 18"

Snowfall total last year: 40.25"
Depth on ground last year: 1.0"

At Tech

TECH RESEARCH FEATURED AMONG TOP-TEN IN SCIENCE MAGAZINE:
David Nitz, professor of physics, and Brian Fick, associate professor of physics, were involved in research with the Auger Observatory that was ranked number three in Science magazine's Top-Ten Science Stories of 2007.
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ARCHIVES WEBSITES RECEIVE AWARD OF MERIT
Submitted by the J. R. Van Pelt/Opie Library

Two online tools developed by the Michigan Tech Archives and the J. R. Van Pelt/Opie Library were recently accorded honors by the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH). The organization's Leadership in History awards committee presented a 2007 Award of Merit to the archives for its Interior Ellis Island and Keweenaw Digital Archives web projects.
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TECH LOOKS FOR CAREERS, DOD LOOKS FOR A WORKFORCE
by John Gagnon, promotional writer

The Department of Defense, the world's largest employer, continues its collaboration with Michigan Tech on getting the word out about its many civilian job opportunities. Jenna Hase, 20, a junior in business management from Wausau, Wis., is the new campus marketer for the agency. She will begin her on-campus internship duties in January after a week of training in the nation's capital.
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MICHIGAN TECH STUDENTS REACT TO TRAGEDY: Umme Salma is worried about what is going to happen in her native Pakistan after the assassination recently of former prime minister and presidential candidate Benazir Bhutto. Salma, who is a post-doctoral research associate in chemistry at Michigan Technological University and a member of the Tech Muslim Students Association, said when she heard of the assassination she was shocked.
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Tech Sports

TECH COMPLETES SWEEP OF MERCYHURST WITH 5-1 WIN: Five different players scored for Michigan Tech to record its second sweep of the season defeating Mercyhurst 5-1 in a non-conference road match-up."I have a lot of respect for Mercyhurst. A lot of guys got rewarded for doing the little things," said head coach Jamie Russell.
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WOMEN USE BIG FIRST HALF IN 72-48 WIN OVER GRAND VALLEY: Michigan Tech used a dominating first half performance to defeat Grand Valley State, 72-48, and hand the Lakers their first loss in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. Sophomores Katie Wysocky and Danae Danen tallied 21 points and eight rebounds apiece to pace the Huskies, who won their fifth straight overall to improve to 11-3 on the season.

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NO. 2 GVSU DOWNS TECH MEN, 71-54: No. 2-ranked Grand Valley State shot 61 percent from the field to outscore Michigan Tech, 71-54, today in men's Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference basketball at the SDC Gym. The Huskies got off to a slow start and never fully recovered in losing their first home game of 2007-08.
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TECH SKIERS ENJOY STRONG SHOWING AT SENIOR NATIONALS: Michigan Tech had eight skiers finish in the top-100 at the US Senior Nationals hosted at the Tech Trails on the campus of Michigan Tech today. The races were two of several held this week at the Tech Trails. Sophomore Jesse Lang led the men’s team with his 36th place finish (44:21.2) in the 15-kilometer classical race after posting a 36th place in the freestyle race on Tuesday.

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Upcoming Athletic Events

Thursday, January 10
6:00 & 8:00 p.m., Women's & Men's Basketball at Northwood

Friday, January 11
8:37 p.m., Hockey at North Dakota

Saturday, January 12
1:00 & 3:00 p.m., Women's & Men's Basketball at Saginaw Valley State
8:07 p.m., Hockey at North Dakota

Thursday, January 17
5:30 & 7:30 p.m., Women's & Men's Basketball vs. Wayne State

Saturday, January 19
1:00 & 3:00 p.m., Women's & Men's Basketball vs. Hillsdale
Women's & Men's Nordic Skiing at Central Super Tour, Coleraine, Minnesota

Sunday, January 20
Women's & Men's Nordic Skiing at Central Super Tour, Coleraine, Minnesota

Around the Keweenaw

Adapted from the Daily Mining Gazette

KENNECOTT PLANS EXPLORATION: Kennecott Minerals plans to explore the mineral potential of several sites in the vicinity of its proposed Eagle project on the Yellow Dog Plains in northern Marquette County.
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SNOWMOBILERS HIT LOCAL TRAILS: Snowmobilers are returning to the trails of the Keweenaw a year after nearly-bare trails stifled the local winter-driven economy between Christmas and the new year. Jim Aho, who owns Evert’s in Hancock, a business that rents snowmobiles, said business has been brisk at his establishment. Many business owners who cater to snowmobiles consider the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day to be the biggest single week for snowmobile-derived business.
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FEDERAL DOLLARS HEADING TO COPPER COUNTRY: The U.S. Congress gave some Copper Country educational and governmental agencies a Christmas present last week in the form of funding included in the 2008 omnibus appropriations bill. Among other things, the spending package includes money for local law enforcement agencies, Michigan Technological University and the Keweenaw National Historical Park.
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From the Emailbag

The Huskies hockey website has streaming video of their games.

<http://www.michigantechhuskies.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=18800>

Not sure if you've emailed this out to the alumni

Dave Bittner

Editor's Note: Thanks for the reminder, Dave. The basketball teams are also featured.

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Regarding, MICHIGAN TECH OFFERS IN-STATE TUITION TO US MILITARY FAMILIES EVERYWHERE

This makes me so very proud to be an alum of Michigan Tech. What a wonderful way to give back to our armed forces and their families by providing an opportunity for their dependents to further their education.

Regards,
Jessica Kiefer BSBA 2002

Editor's Note: We're very proud too, Jessica.

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Editor's Note: Some Housekeeping regarding page width of this newsletter, if you have trouble, from our IT guru:

You can change your computer's resolution to something higher, ie 1024x768.

To change the resolution on most Windows computers, right click on the desktop and click properties. Then click on the settings tab. You can then adjust the screen's resolution accordingly.

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Dorm life in the 50's: Part Two

Smith House (which was immediately across the side street from Wads and held about 30 girls), being an old house had the typical old basement with stone walls. One room was finished to be used as a rec room. We had a couple of parties down there, but I don't remember it having much in the way of furnishings. Also down there was the furnace room. That was remote, unfinished & dusty, but it was the warmest room in the house and a couple of times a few of us would hole up there late at night to study for exams.

Once a month or so we had "stairstep" meetings after closing hours for announcements, rules and whatever else needed to be communicated. We all sat on the steps like bleachers. I think there is a picture in the Keweenawan of one, or maybe it was the Lode.

We had "closing" hours which meant that we were locked in for the night (and alarms on the exits); 10:15 PM Monday-Thursday, 12:00 Friday, 1:00 A.M. Saturday and 11:00PM Sunday. Once a term for the big events, like Sno Ball we would get an extension until 2 AM. The housemother probably didn't like that because she had to be up to make sure that we came in and signed in the book with the time that we returned. One of my roommates complained that the housemother would step up close, allegedly to check her breath for alcohol. We were allowed 15 "late minutes" a term. If we exceeded that we were "campused." That is, we were obliged to report and stay in the dorm on Saturday night. Once we did that we started all over. Many of us accumulated our late minutes hanging out on the porch with a boyfriend before going in. In order to stay away over night we had to have written permission from home for each time. Eventually, we got a "blanket" permission where we could stay away overnight any time, but we had to have a telephone contact.

As I recall, at that time we still had to go through an operator to call out anyplace. The ringing telephone and just general activity in the evening made it hard to study often in the dorm, so some of us would go to the Weed Room at the Union or the Library. At closing time it was often a little noisy until everyone settled down and then quiet time was enforced. To simplify answering the phone someone would have telephone duty so everyone wasn't always running for the phone.

There was a fire escape built on the back of the house. That was sometimes used by the girls sunbathing in "warm" sunny weather. I think there may have been a couple of telescopes watching from Wads.

We were pretty crowded at Smith House that year and something had to be done for the next year anticipating more coeds. We lobbied for a floor in Wadsworth Hall, but the decree we heard from the Dean was "over my dead body" would girls be in the boys dorm! So the next year, mostly the past freshmen were put in a new house across from where the College Motel was. That was Pryor House and I only had 2 roommates there. It was a nice house, but not nearly as nice as Smith House was. Initially, we were supposed to go to Wadsworth for our meals, but after a lot of complaining we were allowed to go to the Union which was half the distance away. The following year Pryor House was not used; instead, we were put in Robinson House which was in the triangle between DHH and Wads. That was probably a little bigger house and more of the quality of Smith House. I had two roommates that year again. Our room on the second floor had it's own half bath and an enclosed unheated porch which we shared with the room next door. The walls were painted a deep lavender. I don't recall what or if there were any curtains on the windows, but we went to town and bought yards of cotton to make cafe curtains and bedspreads for our room. I don't know how many years Robinson House was used. I was in Med Tech, so my senior year was spent interning in Detroit.

I kept a scrapbook of my years on campus. When I was there 2 years ago for a sorority reunion we visited the AGD house and I left the scrap book there for the sorority for their history. Possibly you can see it there.

Gail Dankert Richter '61

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Blue Line Club Raffle
The Michigan Tech Blue Line Club is running a prize raffle to raise money in support of two student organizations, Mitch's Misfits and the Huskies Pep Band. Prizes include the game-worn masks of Tech goaltenders Michael-Lee Teslak and Robbie Nolan, autographed game pucks, a retired set of "Pep Band stripes," a night's stay at the Country Inn & Suites, and gift certificates for other local businesses.

The prize drawing is scheduled for Jan. 26 and you don't have to be present to win.

Purchase your tickets from any member of the BLC board, Pep Band, or Mitch’s Misfits. Tickets are also available in the Blue Line Club skybox during home games.

You can also purchase tickets through BLC president Kathy Pintar at 906-487-1633 or via e-mail at kapintar@mtu.edu.

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Hockey Free Weight Fundraiser
The Michigan Tech Blue Line Club is raising funds to purchase additional free weights for the hockey Husky program. You can help with a donation of any size—every dollar donated will help to purchase one pound of weight for the hockey program.

Donors are invited to fill out a "free weight" cutout for display in the Blue Line Club skybox at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena. The form is also also available online under the "spirit groups" link from www.michigantechhuskies.com

Further information is available from Blue Line Club president Kathy Pintar (kapintar@mtu.edu) and vice president Erik Nordberg (enordber@mtu.edu).

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Featured Alumni Benefit

A Great Way to Support Your Alumni Association PLUS hundreds of deals at places you shop the most…

Your Michigan Tech Alumni Association has created a FREE shopping mall for all alumni and friends.
Members of our shopping mall will receive cash back on purchases made in any of the nearly 1,000 different stores associated with the shopping mall. Cash back ranges from 1% to more than 20%. In addition:

• You'll find great coupon codes at many of our partner stores.
• We post new deals and sales every single day so you find up-to-date shopping information.
• Your Alumni Association also earns cash back on any purchases you make through your shopping mall. These funds support programming for Michigan Tech alumni and students.

Start earning cash back today and also support your Michigan Tech Alumni Association. Just visit www.alumnimall.mtu.edu

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More Alumni Benefits & Services information <http://www.admin.mtu.edu/alumni/products/>

Class Rings
Diploma Frames
License Plates
University Images Michigan Tech Clothing & Giftware

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Job Opportunities This Week

ON CAMPUS: Complete job descriptions are available by e-mailing jobs at mtu.edu

Registrar, Office of Student Records and Registration

Research Scientist I, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science
Position duration dependent upon external funding

Department Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering

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OFF CAMPUS

For off-campus jobs, go to the alumni section of the Career Center website for alumni jobs.

Also, there is a new local job board.

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Michigan Tech is on the web at <http://www.mtu.edu>. For the alumni pages, click on "Alumni/Friends" at the top of the home page.

Dennis Walikainen
dkwalika@mtu.edu
University Marketing and Communications
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, MI 49931-1295
(906) 487-3510